The table was set for 18 of us.

The plates are a special set my grandmother saved for Thanksgiving.

While everyone chatted over wine, my aunt finished dinner.  With help from various relatives, including my sister who was assigned to potato mashing.

A poorly-lit photo of our spread:

On the table:

• Turkey
• Candied yams
• Bread stuffing
• Don’s Pumpkin Dish
• Rutabaga puff
• Green beans
• Mom’s Stuffed Mushrooms
• Sausage stuffing
• Mashed squash
• Gravy

We stuffed ourselves silly.  I probably won’t become a dietician anytime soon, since it is usually my goal on Thanksgiving to try a little of everything. (That being said, I don’t gorge away.  Think of it as sampling.)

After dinner came The Big Clean during which we attempted to digest/make room for dessert.  My 11 year old cousin demonstrated his new skills on the trumpet by playing “Tequila” while a 4 year old cousin shouted “Tequiwa!” right on cue.  The baby ran around, the boys wrestled, football came on, and the coffee pot started gurgling.  When the dessert was laid out on the table, my sister and I glanced over the options: apple, pumpkin, and mincemeat pies, and cheesecake.

Looking at each other we nodded and said, “Let’s do this.”

Life is short.  Savor your options.  All four of them.

A food coma ensued, of course, from which I have only recently woken.  I found there was enough time to lay around and digest the following day since I don’t celebrate Black Friday, I celebrate Lack Friday, during which there is a distinct lack of activity.

I felt really good during the run evening though I had done no training whatsoever.  My time was all right.  But the Turkey Trot isn’t about prepping for a marathon.  It’s about families coming out to support their loved ones and friends and giving thanks for the bodies that run and walk and eat and love.  The Turkey Trot has become a tradition for my cousin and me, and the whole fam showed up at the finish line to cheer us on.  There were people of all ages running, some wearing turkey hats, others wearing t-shirts for various causes.  We passed a solider running in full uniform, complete with a pack and a large American flag.  I got a little choked up watching so many runners cheer him on as if they knew him, as if he were fighting personally for their right to run.  Later in the race I saw a woman in a wheelchair pushing herself along the course.  Speeding is more like it! This woman ran a 5K essentially with her arms in a little over 30 minutes.  Pretty incredible.

I love the enthusiasm and friendliness of the crowd.  The Turkey Trot is not so much a competition as a celebration.  Which is why everyone gets medals .

That’s my cousin and our longtime family friend.  We took a bunch of pictures next to the statue of Uncle Sam.

My cousin and her kids.

And now it is time to get ready for food-related portion of our scheduled activities.  We are shortly off to my aunt’s house for dinner. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Since the three of us actually have real families in different cities, we won’t see each other on Thanksgiving.  But together we are still a crazy little familial bunch, so it’s fitting that we would celebrate together.  The Roommate and The Boyfriend love each other like a brother and sister.  A brother and sister who bicker and need to be sent to their rooms to think about what they’ve done.  Sometimes, yes, I do have to turn this car around.  And sometimes I have to sit between them on the couch when we watch a movie.  I’m sure it’s good practice in case I ever have children.

What was I saying? Something about love and family… oh, dinner! We’re had Thanksgiving dinner tonight.  It was a scaled-down version since we are all headed to our respective parents’ houses on Wednesday.

Roast turkey and sausage with onions, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with a maple glaze, spinach salad with pomegranates, goat cheese, and toasted walnuts, garlic green beans, apple and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pecan pumpkin pie.

You know. Things happen. You start cooking, and all of sudden it’s, “No, we HAVE to have my mom’s maple glazed yams AND mashed potatoes.”

Worth it.  My plate (plus a bowl of salad on the side):

Eh, that’s mostly vegetables on there, right?

We took a brief intermission between dinner and dessert so I could go get my sister from the train station.  Then the four of us settled in with cups of tea and this:

Want to make some of these recipes? Check out the recipe page!

Maple Glazed Yams

Pecan Pumpkin Pie